Blago lawyer: Request for job was a crime

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich heads to federal court for his sentencing hearing in Chicago, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Blagojevich was convicted earlier this year on 18 corruption counts, including trying to auction off President Barack Obama's old U.S. Senate seat. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
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Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich heads to federal court for his sentencing hearing in Chicago, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Blagojevich was convicted earlier this year on 18 corruption counts, including trying to auction off President Barack Obama's old U.S. Senate seat. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
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If Blagojevich gets the 15 to 20 years in prison that prosecutors recommended, she said, he would become the most severely punished public official in state history.

Prosecutors say the twice-elected governor not only shirked all responsibility for his crimes but repeatedly thumbed his nose at the U.S. justice system. Blagojevich's attorneys have said he has already paid a price in public ridicule and financial ruin, and propose a term of just a few years.

Gurland told the judge that it isn't true Blagojevich hasn't grasped the severity of his legal plight, but seemed to stop short of saying he accepted responsibility, saying only "Mr. Blagojevich has faced up to the fact of his conviction."

But she argued that the case was exceptional, saying the public wasn't harmed. Gurland said Zagel should take into account the fact that Blagojevich did not "receive a single penny" in ill-gotten gains - unlike other politicians convicted of public corruption.

"Rod Blagojevich received nothing," she said, adding that Blagojevich was doing what politicians do - seeking campaign contributions, not "money stuffed into envelopes."

Gurland also said a lengthy prison sentence would devastate Blagojevich's family.

Blagojevich and his wife knew they were setting themselves up for public ridicule by appearing on reality television shows, she said, but they did so to provide for their children. Blagojevich appeared on "Celebrity Apprentice," where he struggled to use a cell phone, and his wife, Patti, ate a tarantula on the reality show, "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!"

Both sides could finish their pitches to Zagel during Tuesday's hearing, which was moved to a large ceremonial courtroom. Among the attendees were more than a dozen jurors from both of Blagojevich's trials, including both foremen.

Zagel says he'll wait until Wednesday to pronounce a sentence. He must consider issues including whether any good Blagojevich accomplished as governor counterbalances the bad.

The first person to testify on Blagojevich's behalf was Dr. Deanna Monroe. The Chicago pediatrician praised the "All Kids" health insurance program that Blagojevich created, saying many children wouldn't be treated without it.

Blagojevich's sentencing comes just days before his 55th birthday and three years to the week of his Dec. 9, 2008, arrest. The jury deadlocked in his first trial, agreeing on just one of 24 counts - that Blagojevich lied to the FBI. Jurors at his retrial convicted him on 17 of 20 counts, including bribery.

After sentencing, Zagel will likely give Blagojevich weeks before he must report to prison. Once there, the man heard scoffing on FBI wiretaps about earning a low six-figure salary would have to take a prison job - possibly scrubbing toilets - at just 12 cents an hour.